|
|
Comet Hale-Bopp Update
| Title |
Comet Hale-Bopp Update |
| Explanation |
Will comet Hale-Bopp [ http://www.halebopp.com/ ] become the brightest comet of the Century in early 1997? Since its discovery in July [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950820.html ] this year, Hale-Bopp [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/hale_bopp_info.html ] has caused much speculation. Even though it is still beyond the orbit of Jupiter it is astonishingly bright and expected to get much brighter as it plunges inward, toward the Sun. In this latest Hubble Space Telescope image [ http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/95/41.html ] a bright clump of material (above center) has apparently been ejected by evaporation and the rotation of the icy nucleus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#comet ] (below center). Astronomers are using this and other observations to try to figure out if Hale-Bopp is really a giant comet or a smaller object which will fizzle out sooner than expected as it approaches the Sun. |
|
Old Faithful Meets Hale-Bopp
| Title |
Old Faithful Meets Hale-Bopp |
| Explanation |
As Comet Hale-Bopp leaves our Northern Skies, it provides us with yet another burst of joy. On May 11th the fading comet was photographed [ http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov/comet/van56.html ] behind the famous "Old Faithful [ http://pcsel10.scu.edu/jshiau/coen296/old.html ]" water geyser of Yellowstone National Park [ http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/Parks/yellowstone/yellowstone.html ], Wyoming, USA, Planet Earth. Perhaps more familiar to Earth Dwellers than the dark geysers on Neptune [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/neptune.html ]'s moon Triton [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950805.html ], the gas geysers on Jupiter [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/jupiter.html ]'s moon Io [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970321.html ], and the dirty water geysers hypothesized on Jupiter's moon Europa [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970410.html ], Earth [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/earth.html ]'s Old Faithful is also reliable - every 60-80 minutes it gushes a plume of water and steam high into the air. Comet Hale-Bopp [ http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov/comet/ ] will continue to be visible to observers in the Southern Hemisphere [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970515.html ] as it moves away from the Sun towards the outer Solar System. |
|
Hale-Bopp: The Crowd Pleaser
…
| Title |
Hale-Bopp: The Crowd Pleaser Comet |
| Explanation |
In 1997, the bright comet Hale-Bopp [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970320.html] may have become the most viewed comet in history [ http://medicine.wustl.edu/~kronkg/past_comets.html ] -- visible even to casual skywatchers in light polluted [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970830.html ] cities around [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970408.html ] the globe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970515.html ]. In this picture, taken by photographer Joe Orman [ http://members.home.com/rmscott/orman_index.html ] on the evening of May 8, 1997, Hale-Bopp easily competes with near twilight skies and a shining, over-exposed, crescent moon above Mobile, Arizona, USA. Where is Hale-Bopp now [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/ ]? Still visible [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/whats_visible.html ] to telescopic observers in the Southern Hemisphere, the comet is outbound [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970910.html ], presently about 537 million miles from the Sun. (Jupiter orbits at about 480 million miles.) The long lead time provided by the early discovery of Hale-Bopp [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950820.html ] has allowed extensive observing campaigns [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/info-events/hale-bopp/ report-rw-hbitp98.html ] producing a bonanza of information [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/news102.html ] about this primordial chunk of our Solar System [ http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/comets/comets.html ]. |
|
Comet Hale-Bopp Over the Sup
…
| Title |
Comet Hale-Bopp Over the Superstition Mountains |
| Explanation |
Four years ago, Comet Hale-Bopp [ http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov/comet/ ] was discovered [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950820.html ] out near Jupiter [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/jupiter.html ] falling toward the inner Solar System [ http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Curriculum.Support/Space.Science/Our.Solar.System/.index.html ]. Two years ago, it provided spectacular pictures [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/cossc/apod_search?Hale-Bopp ] as it neared its closest approach to the Sun [ http://shutter.vet.ohio-state.edu/astronomy/faq/index.htm ]. Still today, spectacular pictures [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970723.html ] of the brightest comet of the 1990s are surfacing. Above, Comet Hale-Bopp was photographed in 1997 behind the Superstition Mountains [ http://www.goodnet.com/~rfidler/Page/Superstitions.htm ] in Arizona [ http://www.state.az.us/ ]. Clearly visible are the comets white dust tail [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960326.html ] that shines by reflected sunlight, and the blue ion tail [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970514.html ] that shines by glowing gas. Currently, there are several comets visible [ http://comets.amsmeteors.org/comets/current_comets.html ] from the proper location with a small telescope. A comet visible to the unaided eye [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/bright_comet.html ] appears about once every five years. |
|
|
